Buckeyes Spoke To The Media Before The Top 5 Matchup Against Indiana
11/20/2024 10:08:00 AM | Football
On Seth’s injury and moving forward:
“We’re definitely crushed for Seth but we’re ready to move on and maintain a next man up mentality. We’ll move Carson to center and move Austin to left guard who both had a very spirited practice today. I’m super excited for those guys to get in the game and it’s a great opportunity for them.”
On Austin’s growth:
“Austin has a lot of growth and experience. Being around guys like Donovan, Josh, and Seth has helped him learn about what it takes to prepare the calls and all the things that come with that. There’s a lot that goes into playing with the offensive line and some of the biggest parts deal with confidence and being able to knock people off the ball. All of those guys know what it looks like as the season has gone on and they have to be at their best.”
On Indiana’s defensive line:
“They make a lot of plays and wreak havoc. They have a good scheme in how they do it with a lot of one on one situations. They’ve created TFL’s, gotten teams off of their rhythm, and they play hard.”
On thoughts of Indiana Defense:
"I think they’re a very veteran team. Obviously, I think 10 of the 11 starters on there are transfers, but a lot of them come from the same place, so they're playing at a really high level. They're playing together as a team, they know their scheme down pat. We have a lot of respect for them, so we're going to look to go in there on Saturday and play hard."
On November Goals:
"We always go into the year just looking to get to November with all our goals in front of us. Now we're in November. It's the most important month of the year when it comes to football, so we carry it that way. Every practice means more. Every game means more."
On Getting Out On A Fast Start:
"It's very important. Every team that has Ohio State on their schedule always looks forward to that game, so we want to confirm everything that they think about us. We're the #2 team in the nation. We don't pay a lot of attention to rankings, but it has to feel that way when you step on the field. So we're looking to come out there and dominate from the jump."
On offensive line this year:
“Football is a violent sport and unfortunately injuries come with that. We’re making sure everybody is ready and making sure the younger guys know that they can go in the game at any time. At the end of the day, we’re all recruited here to play football, so we’re going to play football.”
On Carson’s growth:
“He has always been physically gifted and has matured mentally when it comes to having confidence in himself. We have confidence in him to go out and do what he needs to do. He’s grown as a player and as a man with his reps at guard that were already impressive, so he will be able to do that at center.”
On being a leader of the offensive line:
“I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing. I can only do what Donovan Jackson can do as best as I can. We have a lot of experienced guys on the O-line so we just need to come together as a unit and try to put the best product on the field.”
On the Plan to slow down the Indiana offense:
"We're excited for the challenge. I think their quarterback has done a great job all season. They have a lot of veteran receivers that have made a lot of plays. We're going to do our best to execute Coach Knowles plan at a high level, communicate, and then, play fast and physical."
On Coach Knowles as a teacher:
"I think our whole defense all believe in Coach Knowles, no matter what looks he gives us, what defense he comes with, or what ideas he comes with. We just believe in him and execute his plans at the level he wants to execute him at. They work out. I think our complete belief in Coach Knowles, complete belief in each other and our teammates is why they execute us at such a high level."
On playing a team that had a week off before the game:
"There's going to be some unscouted plays. They're going to come with some plays that we haven't seen on film before. We see stuff on film, but I think just executing our plan at the high level, not worrying about how they could do this or they could do that. Just worrying about our plan, and executing a high level. That's what we're gonna do."
